Random finds

It's been said that teachers can make something out of anything...and that we can be hoarders! I've found some random but pretty awesome stuff this summer. I've found that taking pictures and pinning them to Pinterest makes me feel better about not buying them! So here ya go...

Dr. Suess section at Michael's

USB men and flexible keyboards and calculators at BBB...indestructible!

 Soda bottle bubbles at Amazing Savings...I'm envisioning a game!

Foam animal hats at Michael's

 Alien hats and spaceman vest, helmet, and boots at Target

Magnetic dry erase wall dots, dry erase list board, pencil cup at Walmart

Double sided dry erase board, print and cursive wipe off boards, and crayons at Walmart

Microphone pencil pouch at Walmart...perfect for Reader's Theater or Author's Chair

Surfboard dry erase board at Walmart

Animal headbands at Michael's

Bee and frog buckets and snack cups at Walmart - the top of the snack cup has flap like things so you can just push crayons inside and not worry about them spilling if it gets knocked over!

Magnetic holder and binder dividers from Walmart - holder is perfect for students to put notes in during the morning and I can move it to the door frame before dismissal! Dividers have Box Tops!

Zebra dry erase board at Michael's

Binder with accordion folders and tabs at Walmart! 

Adorable turtle kids gardening bag at Bed Bath and Beyond

Easy way to find play food...use dog toys from Dollar Tree! 

Crayon thermoses at Dollar Tree...great for crayon storage, duh!

Love this poster from Staples!

Fruit and vegetable magnets at Dollar Tree

24 badge holders for $1 at Dollar Tree

Favorite Websites Linky Party

I'm working on the student resources page of my class website and I wanted to add more websites for students. This is a perfect opportunity for a linky party! You can add yourself to more than one collection  with the same link if you put it all in one post. Please try not to repeat sites that others have posted! All participants will receive a free Technology Center poster from my Learning Center Signs Pack! Leave a comment with your email address after you have joined and I will send it to you! :)

My favorite websites for kids:

Reading: Story It
Writing: Spelling City, Learning Chocolate, and Read Write Think
Math: Create a Graph and National Virtual Library of Manipulatives
Science: BBC, National Geographic for Kids, and Discovery Kids
Social Studies: Learner.org

Life's a beach!

What a busy summer! I did a semi-upgrade of the site and added a page of my photography. Let me know what you think! Here's what else I've been working on for my ocean/beach themed classroom:

This bridal planner from Michael's is going to make a perfect sub binder.  

It was missing some pieces and a little beat up, so I got a nice percent off the sale price!

 You can't see it, but the little notebook on the left says, "My Wedding Contacts" but I'll just change that. The inside is perfect for letting them know what teachers to go to for help!

This is the view when it was open, before I fixed it.

It was missing a post-it pad and tabs. I found these for $.99 at a dollar store.

I got this bookshelf at Goodwill for $4.50 so I would have a place for my chapter books. They take up sooo much room in baskets and this was the perfect size but I didn't like the wood grain.

 After a little black spray paint....

 Just a few books for now!

Stickers from Dollar Tree match perfectly with...

these planters I made from Michael's! (They say Relax, Paradise, and Beach - just a bad pic)

Gonna frame these!

I found these ice cream cones at Amazing Savings. Right now they have bubbles in them but I'm sure I can come up with some sort of game to use them for.  Dice and Bingo chips can fit inside.

A library book bin and guided reading table basket from Amazing Savings with my new palm stapler from Staples ($5!)...gotta figure out how to get the bottle opener off!

My new rolling cart from Michael's (with a few to-be-made projects)

Top it all off with a coconut cup from the dollar store for my desk (I'll probably put a pen in the straw hole and erasers inside)

...and I'm almost set with my ocean / beach theme!

School doesn't start until September 6, so I'll post classroom pics later!

Journeys Reading

Have you ever been trained in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Journeys? I'm attending a training on the program next week. I haven't used a basal reading program in 4 years! I used Open Court / SRA and Reading A-Z for the two years I taught second grade. I found it to be a bit weak in phonics and spent a decent amount of time coming up with graphic organizers for comprehension. I did like how the spelling words followed phonemic patterns and were embedded into the stories, though.

When I taught third grade, we used core novels (Mr. Popper's Penguins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Stories Julian Tells, and Ramona the Brave) as well as Rigby Readers for guided reading and Rebecca Sitton Spelling (which was too easy). My students really struggled with decoding and deriving meaning of the vocabulary words through the novels, plus we've all seen Willy Wonka in the movies, and even though we compared the book and the movie before taking the test, students were still confusing the two. Can you believe they're ALL now movies except Julian?! Needless to say, those novels are no longer used.

I used Project Read and Explode the Code (LOVED it!) plus a few other resources when I taught basic skills, and didn't teach reading for the past two years while I was in science lab.

Journeys uses the Focus Wall concept and Irene Fountas created the guided reading part. There are books for below, on, and above grade level as well as ELL and vocabulary. It has a good deal of vocabulary development and non-fiction reading. From what I can see, everything is created for you. Lesson plans are prewritten and student pages are easy to copy. I'm not sure how much I like the mostly worksheet approach, but I do see plans for a journal, listening center, and word work stations...not sure if the district purchased them though....  I'm also wondering if spelling words are embedded.

The website only shows the first grade teacher's guide, so I'm looking forward to getting a peek at the guides for upper grades.

Any experiences, advice, or resources?

*ADDED: My Journeys website for third grade*

Check out other Journeys posts here.